Whiteside, Glenbard South cruise past Fenton

Brandon Whiteside flashed his all-around offensive game Friday night.

Inside, outside, at the free throw line - everything was working for the Glenbard South junior, who led all scorers with 19 points in the Raiders' 53-38 boys basketball win over Fenton in Bensenville.

Whiteside hit a pair of 3-pointers while going 3 for 3 at the free-throw line before sitting out most of the fourth quarter as the visitors built a 28-point lead. He also had a little bit of luck on his side, being awarded the basket when a Bison player accidentally tipped the ball in on a rebound attempt.

"My teammates were setting good screens," said Whiteside, who added 6 rebounds and 2 steals, "and were getting me the ball where I could get open shots. We just tried to move the ball. We also tried to get the ball in the post and they started doubling and we made some 3s."

Glenbard South jumped out to a quick 13-5 advantage, spurred on by 5 points from Billy Powers, and then after a 10-point second quarter from Whiteside, saw that margin extended to 31-16 by halftime.

Turnovers were the biggest problem for the host Bison, who gave the ball away 15 times in the first 16 minutes.

"We have been having a turnover battle all year," Fenton coach Chaz Taft said. "We are averaging about 20 turnovers a game. We just have to get better at handling the ball. We keep working on it every day at practice. We will keep doing it and they will get better and better. It's January. We want to be playing our best basketball in February, that's our goal."

A 13-4 run to begin the third, capped off by a three-point play from Charlie Bair, pushed the advantage to 44-20. Bair finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots.

Peter Jeske also had 8 points.

"Defensively, we were able to pressure them upfront and that set the tone for us," Glenbard South coach Wade Hardtke said. "Offensively, they were aggressively trying to take Charlie away and we were able to hit some shots from the perimeter."

With the victory the Raiders got back to the .500-mark at 7-7 but most importantly, stayed atop the Metro Suburban Blue standings with a 4-1 record.

"Early on we played a tough schedule, especially at Thanksgiving and Christmas," Hardtke said. "Outside of Downers Grove North, we've been in every game down to the wire. With an inexperienced group coming in, I've been pleased up to this point. Now we have to turn the corner and win some of the close games and we've been able to do that lately."

Bryan Larsen topped Fenton (3-13, 0-6) with 9 points. Tyler Santagata had 8 points and 6 rebounds, and Daniel Lucas chipped in with 7 points off the bench.